A few more mixed media florals for the week

 

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The problem with having caught up with my paintings for #the100dayproject is that while I've been painting every day, every piece seems to need a little "more" so I'm actually behind in posting because of "perfectionism". *LOL*

But I've really been exploring my options...do you think I'm an ink and wash kind of girl? 

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Or should I go to loose and abstract route?

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Perhaps I should explore the watercolour and coloured pencil combo? I really like the scribbly textured look the pencils give.

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Got to say I LOVE using my white gel pen to add details that got lost in the paint.

Which style do you think is more "me"?

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Workspace Wednesday - what the Yams ate in a day

 

In this week's Workspace Wednesday, I'm sharing what the Yams ate in a day....aka what I cooked for the day. *winks*

First up, for breakfast, I attempted last week's oatmeal cake again with tweaks to make it more "flavourful" because my sister said my first go was "forgettable". *insert sad music* Which usually happens when you mix some basic ingredients, pour them in a pan and just bake. Plus oatmeal with milk is not something I particularly enjoy because it's just too gooey for me. But I do love a custard...and I love it when there's a surprise with every mouthful. (All the fine-dining over the years have finally paid off..hahaha).

So, I added a drizzle of raw honey to the main mixture and replaced the blueberries with bananas. I also caramelised the apples with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon. Then I topped it off with toasted walnuts.

It smelled awesome...as it was baking and when it came out of the oven. The food critic said it was so much better than the first version . :)

For lunch we had pan-fried pork with lemon sauce. This is a family fave which I recently added back on rotation. I don't really enjoy the hassle of coating the meat with potato starch, then pan-frying and then making a sauce. But I decided that I could make 3 decent simple dishes to eat with rice or I make just 2 dishes but put in a little more effort in the two...you know quality over quantity. (I've recently started pickling veggies so I take that out and serve that as an additional dish.)

The veggie dish was bitter melon with eggs and tomato. My sister hates the bitter taste so I had to put in extra effort to add other flavours to distract from the bitterness. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and improvised with ingredients I had on hand. I caramelised the onions and tomato first. Then I added dried scallops and homemade chicken broth and finished off with the eggs and a little salt. It was actually pretty good (For my 3rd attmpt...hehehe).

For dinner, we had a salad - some greens with avocado, pickled cucumbers and mango in a homemade vinaigrette dressing.(Really simple because I started on dinner late....and you know people are "dying" of hunger if dinner is late...*LOL*)

We had steamed chicken with shiitake mushrooms.

The most time-consuming dish was this panfried pork and potato patties. I had to steam the potatoes first, then mash them and mix it with the minced meat and diced onion before shaping them and coating them with a little potato starch. The pan-frying part was easy except for the diced onions not sticking to the patties. A problem I would have eliminated had I made an actual batter. But who has time when family members are "starving" right? I mean I really really wanted to make a dipping sauce for this dish but I served up bottled chilli sauce *dramatic music plays in the background*.

And that my friends, is what the Yams ate yesterday.

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This week's quick decorated notebook

 

These days I've just been really into simple decorating projects that utilize my existing stash, don't require major cleanup and are relatively "flat" for easy storage.

Like this week's quick decorated notebook. :)

Using the bits and bobs from recent happy mail and my own stash.

Hope you are having a great week so far! :)

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Mixed Media Monday - more fun experimenting

 

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Now that I'm working on a different substrate (100% cotton), I've been having fun exploring how different mediums work on it. Like this one, I drew 3 of the blooms in coloured pencils and then painted the others in watercolour for a fun mix of texture. :)

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Then I tried the bokeh effect with a mix of watercolours and gouache.

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This one took a long time because I drew and coloured in the blooms with coloured pencils. Super labour-intensive even though I found it very therapeutic. Then I did the background in watercolours and finished off with white and black paint markers. These are the kind of flowers on a patterned paper that I want to fussy-cut. *LOL*

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I find myself gravitating to this style the most. It's abstract and loose. And done in a couple of minutes. Watercolours, gouache and paint markers.

P/s: Still behind in returning blog visits. Must have overworked the right wrist again because it hurts when I engage in any repetitive action. The left hand/arm is bearing most of the load now....which is in line with one of my goals for 2022 - to be more ambidextrous. *winks*

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New recipes I tried this week

Hello friends. You know how I like to challenge myself even when I'm a little pressed for time? (I believe a little periodic stress is good for the body...*winks*). Well, check out the new recipes I tried out this week  for family breakfast. 

First up is the baked oatmeal with apples and blueberries. I saw this recipe on YouTube across a few different channels and thought I would give it a go. It's basically a rehash of the classic oatmeal and milk brekkie. It's super simple...you soak the oatmeal in milk for 5-10minutes until it becomes thick and resembles a paste. In the meanwhile, you whisk one egg with a little sugar, a pinch of salt and some baking powder. Then you mix them together and pour into a greased pan. Add some berries and chopped up apples...and bake for 40 minutes at 180C/350F.

I did add some chia seeds to my mixture for some extra fibre. The verdict: a soft custardy version of oatmeal with milk. Personally, I think it needs a little more flavour because it tastes quite one dimensional. While the apple bits gave it a slight crunch, I think I would add some nuts to the recipe for additional crunch and texture. And maybe some cinnamon for added flavour.

Next up was caramelised banana crepes. This was a recipe I pulled out from a book I recently borrowed from the library. I didn't get a chance to do a taste test on it because the yield was supposed to be 8 crepes but I ended up with just 5 so the folks ate them. I am going to assume it was pretty good because there wasn't any complaints.

I also made my first frittata. Yep, I love eggs but I've never made a frittata before *dramatic music plays in the background*.

I caramelised the onions then added red and yellow peppers and some chopped up portobello mushroom. They were lightly seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Then I added them to a baking tray and poured the egg, milk and cheese mixture. The tin then went into the oven for 20 minutes.

Verdict: It turned out pretty yummy. For me. My sister complained that it wasn't substantial and she felt like she didn't have breakfast. I will add bacon and some carbs veggies in the mix next time to make it more filling.

What about you? Did you try out any new recipes this week?

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This week's vintage-inspired decorated paper bag

 

Let's get back to that huge stack of unadorned paper bags I have and start making them pretty! :)

I started with this sturdy paper bag which had a nice sparkly sheen to it.

I really wanted to use this postcard patterned paper so I decided to go with a vintage-inspired vibe.

I kept all the elements flat for ease of storage and transport but I did add some texture by distressing the edges of the postcard paper.

Happy Thursday friends! :)

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Workspace Wednesday - new art supplies!

 

So this gal may have gotten a few new art supplies even though she went in for watercolour paper only. The store owners were like, "We haven't seen you in 2 years!" I was like, "No, I came once last year but you had no stock of anything I wanted." 

And then there was more chatting and I ended up buying more stuff. Like a box of Holbein gouache. And 2 white Prismacolor Premier Pencils (Out of stock for all of 2021). And a new cool watercolour palette container. Which was actually something I wanted. To put in specific colours for my floral paintings. My current palettes had colours picked out for portraits and eye drawings. Of course I could still use them. Some people have just 1 watercolour palette and can paint a gazillion things. But apparently not this gal. *LOL*

Happy Wednesday friends!

P/s: Hope to play catch-up on your blogs this week. Life has been a tad crazy. I missed 2 days of posting last week because I was too tired and just went to bed. My sister tested positive for Covid 19 last week..and dad tested positive this past Sunday. And I am currently serving up 3 meals a day. Including the very early breakfast for the very very spoiled nephew. I am just surprised that I am still keeping up with the floral paintings for #the100dayproject. But just so you know, I bought the art supplies last week and have only so far managed to take a photo of them...and not actually use them. #lifeinapandemic

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Getting more experimental with my #the100dayproject floral paintings

 

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Now that I'm caught up with my floral paintings for #the100dayproject, I find myself getting more experimental...and having way more fun (as opposed to when I was falling behind and feeling stressed up over it).

Like this piece. I worked with gouache and lots of water in the background...then decided to add in some watercolored blooms the next day.

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And when I get tired of adding layers, I just go in with my black pen to outline the elements for a casual look. :)

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Sometimes I attempt something that I failed previously (as in it was UGLY...hehehe)...and it still turned out ugly. Like this one. I may have to come to terms with the fact that freestyling wild flowers is NOT my thing....I probably need to sketch the elements out first. *LOL*

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Just changing up the substrate can yield different results. This one was done on 100% cotton paper. The inks and the watercolours flowed differently. Had to make the switch because I ran out of the previous watercolour paper.

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Decided to use coloured pencils first...before finishing up with watercolours. Really cool...love the dreamy feel.

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Had to try the same supplies again. This time I even coloured in the background before adding the layer of watercolours...which gave me a really bold look.:)

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Played with acrylic inks, coloured pencils and watercolours for this one.

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The gal actually sketched this one out in pencil (who is she?...hahaha) before loosely painting with gouache and watercolours.

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Another play with watercolours. gouache and coloured pencils. :)

What do you think?

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Make Stuff Monday - a decorated mish mash box

 

Sometimes when you haven't done something for a long time,  it takes you a while to get back into the groove. Which is my excuse for this week's Make Stuff Monday - a decorated mist mash box which takes eclectic to a whole new level...of messiness. *LOL*

I started with this lovely sturdy box that I've had in my possession for the last year. 

I had my box of scraps with me and just added more and more stuff to my "cluster". *winks*

I couldn't decide if I wanted to go the vintage route or the cutesy one...so I just went with both! Hehehe...

So the end product is a mash mash of patterns on patterns, lots of colours and contrasting styles. :)

What do you think?

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Dinner on a Friday night

 

Hello friends! It's been a long week (more on this in a future post). Just popping by to share what the Yams had for dinner on a Friday night....:)

First up...braise pork ribs. This is a family fave and is now on a biweekly rotation. It is a relatively easy dish but takes time.

Next...pan-fried garlic butter scallops. Probably everyone's fave because it is "exotic" (aka seldom cooked...*LOL*). Not sure about your neck of the woods but food prices here are skyrocketing so we really have to buy food that is in season or on offer. 

And of course we had a typical mixed veggie stir-fry. It is a great way to eat a variety of veggies and the colours make it look more appetising.

Served with white steamed rice.

All gone of course. No leftovers *triumphant music plays in the background*.

What are you having for dinner?

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